Monday, July 19, 2010

Hoffman's Lost Lineage not Yet Found

I have decided to do something different today. I am at a stand still on my HOFFMAN/Huffman Lineage. So I am going to start with my Grandfather Hoffman and post some data on a steady basis to see if any other Hoffman/Huffman clan member finds us.

First one needs to know that HUFFMAN was not a name used in Germanic region until after the 1800's. Itwas spoke as HOOFMAN or Huffman but spelt HOFFMAN. You can even see it spelt HOUGHMAN.

We know we came early to the American land. Some letters indicate we may even be from the Germanna Group.

So here is the starting of an adventure down the path to find more kin and maybe put more puzzle pieces together.

My last Hoffman was Grandad so this is where I start and work backward over time.

My Grandfather and my Grandmother were very special to me.Their names are Cecil Lee (Shorty) and Inez Mae Scott Hoffman. I call them Grandma and Grandpa Hoffman.Grandpa Hoffman grew up in southeast Iowa. Monroe and Appanoose Co area.

Grandpa's father came to Iowa from Greene Co., Pennsylvania. His name was Franklin Marion Hoffman. Grandpa's Mother was Samantha Abigail Duvall and her parents also came to Iowa from Greene Co., Pennsylvania.

Grandpa Cecil was born 9 May 1891 in Moravia, IA. Grandpa had asthma really bad and he went to Wyoming to live with his mother's family members (Duvall's) that moved there. Due to drier air it was easier to breathe. He did well in Wyoming so he worked and came back and forth until they could afford to move to Wyoming. My mother was their first child born in Wyoming. The older siblings were born in Iowa the younger ones in Wyoming.

They homesteaded a piece of land near Slater Flats. He later bought land in another area.They retired from farming and moved to Wheatland the town in the mid 1950's. I remember the farm out in the country near Aunt Marie's (Mom's sis). I also remember the home in town near his sons, Dick and Roy. Grandma Inez, grew up in Iowa and after marriage to Grandpa and some children later moved to Wyoming where the climate was better for her husband to breathe. Her birthday was 6 Oct 1892 born in Taylor township, IA.

Grandpa spent a great deal of time checking the growing grains in the fields. I walked the cornfields with him many times so I could hear his stories of his family. He loved to talk about his family and his one trip to Pennsylvania when he was about five years old to see his relatives that they had left behind moving to Iowa. He always told me he wanted to go back to Pennsylvania one more time to find some of the people he met when he was 5 years old. I did this for him finally in 1993.

Grandma passed away before Grandpa. She was very ill in bed for some months and there was much discussion on what her ailment was. I am not sure if we know today what she passed from will have to ask my Uncle Dick if he has Death Certificate.I remember she was very ill the year I was a senior in high school and Mom went to stay with her for a couple of weeks in 1958. She passed away in November of 1961.

Grandad lived for almost a year longer. We were hoping he was coming to visit us and he suddenly passed on 24 October 1962. My second son Don was just a year old and one day when Grandad passed.

It was a truly sad day for our family, when we lost our grandparents on Mothers' side of the family.